If any of you lie down each night for a restful sleep and doze off to the guilt-inducing sound of a leaking toilet, take my word for it: FIX IT! And fix it now.
Instructions always say you can tell a toilet is leaking by putting food coloring in the tank, waiting 15 minutes and seeing if any of the color has infiltrated the bowl.
At my house, I could tell the toilet was leaking by the dripping or almost running sound in the toilet, which went louder or softer depending on the hour. From our leaky laundry sink episode, I remembered that that faucet’s slow-but-steady drip was wasting around 8 gallons per day. Heaven only knows what the toilet’s been doing.
I peeked inside the tank and saw the water level was too high. The easy fix for that is to bend down the arm supporting the float ball, so the tank knows it’s done filling. When I tried that, the water started running nonstop in the toilet. Quickly, I re-bent the arm up until the running stopped, and then I high-tailed it to Home Depot (well, when I was in the area, so as not to waste gas, too).
The fix-your-toilet aisle had a mind-numbing array of options, and I realized I didn’t know exactly what was wrong with the toilet. From the float ball situation, I guessed it might have to do with that area, and from the running, I guessed the flapper might not be working well. I thought about buying entirely new contents for the tank for $20, but I decided to gamble on the “fixes the two most common causes of leaky toilets” kit for $10.
So, Saturday evening (I do know how to have fun, don’t I?) I drained the tank and replaced its intestines.
Did I mention “Do it NOW!”? The entire project took me less than half an hour, and that included getting up and leaving the room twice in search of two supplies (scissors and a sponge) that I didn’t get in the first place, even though the instructions said that they, a bucket and a wrench would be all I’d need. The instructions were very thorough. It was easy, even with zero toilet-fixing experience. Oh wait, I did adjust the flush chain on our old home’s toilet once, so make that extremely minimal toilet-fixing experience.
Now we have a fancy-schmancy ballcock flusher, a somewhat more powerful flush, and the beautiful sound of silence. Perhaps that’s why I slept like a log last night ….
Cheap Like Me 
Boy, can I relate to this! I was also surprised that it didn’t take all day. And it is so nice not to hear the water flowing constantly.
THANKS FOR POSTING THIS… Aye Caramba! A running toilet is so annoying…!! Trying to figure out exactly how to fix it with NO help from the landlord is even worse. Her thought was to: A) drain the tank and clean the stopper inside with bleach. If that doesn’t do the trick, B) just turn the knob on the pipe near the bathroom floor. How annoying is that?… then when you really need to flush turn it on again …. NO! Stop! SEND OVER A PLUMBER AND STOP BEING CHEAP!
Aye Caramba indeed…
Anyway- Do you recall the brand name of the repair kit ? ” ..’fixes the two most common causes of leaky toilets’ kit for $10.” ? I’ll go to the hardware store and purchase it and deduct the price off of the rent.
Thank you thank you
Oh, I don’t remember, and I don’t have the box anymore. The “two most common causes” kit came with a new float-ball assembly (the vertical post on the left side of the tank) and the flapper (the thing that blocks the hole where the water runs into the tank). A new flapper is just a few bucks if you want to try that first.
Sounds like your landlord doesn’t know how easy it is to fix either! Just don’t (a) tighten with tools and risk cracking the tank, or (b) get into trouble for not paying your full rent. That’s not Cheap Like Me. 😉
Good luck!!!